Norwegian Cruise Vegan friendly?

 We went on a family vacation in the middle of April for 7 nights aboard the Norwegian Jade. This was not our first rodeo.. I mean cruise. We are not those 50 cruise under your belt people but we aren't new either. So this time was different for me though. The last time we did a cruise I was a vegetarian, not a vegan. Was Norwegian up for the challenge? We will see...

The first day we got on board we imminently went for lunch in the buffet area, I was impressed with the signs for 'Vegan' or 'gluten free' in all different locations. The first thing I tried was their offer of 'Veggie burgers available' so I asked. That sent the kitchen into a panic.. they were asking each other "where is it?" After a bit of a scurry they found it and made it on the grill. The taste was better then expected! You could see the vegetables in it so it wasn't a Boca burger... Thank goodness!

 So lunch buffet was a win for them and it continued to be so for the entire cruise. They had awesome Indian food every day for lunch and man was it spicy!!! Asian food one the one side was all labeled 'Vegan' so I was happy that I could freely choose and not worry.

Our little cruisers found plenty of options too, pasta bars with different sauce options (vegan also). Every morning for breakfast there was fruit, breads or all sorts, a fresh juice bar (that was extra $) and plenty for me to choose from! 
My coffee is a must in the morning so I brought my own coconut milk in case the cruise didn't have any non-dairy milk options. However I saw one day someone asking for soy milk and low and behold they had it!! So the next morning I chose a random staff member in the breakfast buffet area for soy milk. That sent a look of panic on her face as she asked someone else where it was, they motioned to the back and she left for at least 15min as I stood there looking like an orphan child with my plate of food and no where to go. Finally she returned and poured me a nice glass which I was happy to have :)
I learned that they keep it in the area where the cereal is at... no need to run to the back.. but neither one of us knew that I guess.

My final verdict? Yes Norwegian Cruise Line is vegan friendly!! Give them a try!!


Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Candida Diet and Being Vegan

In this house we eat healthy or so I thought... I buy organic when we can afford it, whole grains, no processed foods etc. But when the hubby starts feeling tired all the time, feeling 'fuzzy' in the brain, and a load of other symptoms, then its time to call someone. There is a local natural doctor that came highly recommended so off we went to him. The diagnosis? Candida and to much of it!!!!

If you have ever read much about candida you can see we all have in in our systems, but to much of something isn't good. My hubby had an over load of it! So much so that his adrenals were shot and thyroid too. That explained why he was tired and fuzzy in the head for sure. So what to do?

The doctor gave him some drops to help kill it off but he had to change his diet. Woah... what now? We eat healthy! So I'm sure this was not a big deal.... but it was.
He had to get rid of some main things: Soy, sugar, peanuts, dairy and starch. There was a huge list he gave us of can and can't foods, I was at a loss. All my great recipes and menu planning for the week went out the window. (Side note: I am the vegan one he will eat vegan most of the time but will eat meat when we go out to dinner. But since I cook all the meals he essentially is vegan by association :)

Soy was a shocker to me, no tofu??? I love my tofu scramble and tofu in my Indian dishes. What now?? Substitute for beans or lentils, ok for the Indian food or other recipes but the tofu scramble was just gone. He was eating eggs instead and since they came from a local farm that was better then no eggs at all for him.

Sugar, it is in EVERYTHING!!! Really people?!!?!? A jar of tomato sauce, SUGAR. Pita chips, SUGAR. Crackers, SUGAR. Almond butter, SUGAR. And the list goes on....  I read labels before but this was crazy. It make me realize how much sugar we are ingesting and don't even know it. Its scary. My shopping trips were longer and more expensive then ever.

Peanuts, this was new to me. I was buying 2 giant jars of the beloved stuff at BJ's every 2 weeks and it was gone often times before that. Now he can't have it at all, no shakes with it, nothin! Why? They have a fungus. Did you know that? I didn't! So now we had to buy Almond Butter. It was way more then the peanut butter but if it helped the overall health of the family then I consider it an investment.

Dairy, not a problem! We never had cheese or milk products in the house anyways so this was a no brainer.

Starch, no white rice or potatoes or starchy/yeast filled breads. This was tough.... All my bakery fresh bread I bought became a no no. Now we are spending $5 a loaf on Ezekiel bread or food for life bread. There was no option. Brown rice was already in the house so that was not a big deal. I love my potatoes tho!!! Oh french fries how I have weakness for you! The poor hubby was now banned from the deep fried goodness.

In the middle of all this happening our oldest son (5.5yrs old) started throwing up on a regular basis, not the stomach flu I thought it was. It would come and go, he felt nauseous almost all the time. We were constantly on alert for him to vomit and never knew what kind of day we would have. It was frustrating for him and us and we didn't want to see our poor guy so miserable. He was skinny enough, thank his genes from me and his dad for that, so this was not helping that. After doing a food diary I realized it was a food allergy. But to what?? We took him to the same natural doctor that the hubby went to and he did some allergy testing on him. The conclusion? He was allergic to DAIRY and APPLES. Go figure!!! He told us to get him on pro-biotics and to kick out the dairy and apples in his diet. As well as limiting his sugar and peanut intake. Poor guy he loved his mac and cheese and his apples and peanut butter. So it looked like the whole family should just be on the Candida diet.

What has been the result? 
Hubby has never felt better! He has so much energy now and comes home ready to play with the kids instead of wanting to take a nap. His mood has improved and over all it was worth every penny.

Our oldest is back to his normal self, no throwing up and not a bit of nausea. Again worth the visits to the doctor and worth the diet changes.

I find the grocery bill to have changed but not so much that it breaks the bank, I am finding ways to get the things we need cheaper by buying online.

Since I do the cooking and making separate meals for the family is so much work I have just switched us all over to a candida type diet but vegan version. Can it be done? YES! All you need is to think 'substitutions'. "How can I change this recipe to match the candida diet?" You will see in my coming recipe posts the way I changed the recipe to be candida diet friendly. If you have any questions about any of this leave me a message below :)

Mellow Mushroom Sanford, FL Review

*This is my restaurant review for the new Mellow Mushroom in Sanford, FL. They did not pay me to write this, all of the thoughts are my own.*

Monday April 27, 2015 was an epic day. The long awaited opening of Mellow Mushroom in Sanford Florida. Very rarely can I find a restaurant that serves VEGAN food, let alone in Sanford or the surrounding area. This place is legit and will cater to the needs of a vegan and even the gluten free pizza dough is vegan! Score on all accounts for someone like me.

In the past the vegan cheese (soy based) the chain used was busted as not being 100% vegan, as it had casein in. But thankfully they have changed over time to Daiya brand cheese which is 100% vegan.  So vegans of Sanford rejoice!!

On to my review.... the night was in a summary 'a comedy of errors' you will soon see why.

We decided to go opening night, why not right? We arrived at 6:30pm The table wait for the 4.5 (baby is the 0.5) of us was 30 min and not bad we thought so we put our name down. They have a 'fancy' way of telling you when your table is ready by texting you and letting you know. Which it great when you have kids! That gave us time to go to the near by pet store and hang out for 30 minutes until the table was ready for us. Run around the store..... got the text and time to go back.

We were quickly seated out on the patio by a friendly host, out server Sam arrived and was very nice. We ordered out drinks while the kids played with the kids menus and the youngest colored on the table.... good thing its only crayon.

Our server came back in pretty good time and took our food order. I let the others go first since the 'vegan thing' has thrown off many waiters in the past. I ordered a pizza I had gotten in the past at another Mellow Mushroom and remembered liking it so lets see how the new guys do. The Thai Dye Pizza (Vegan version)

Olive oil and garlic base, curried tofu, Daiya mozzarella cheese, Roma tomatoes, onions. Topped with fresh basil, cucumbers and a sweet swirl of Thai chili sauce. And the vegan version has no butter on the crust or Parmesan cheese.

My partially eaten pizza below...

When I first told Sam the server I was Vegan, she immediately said "Ok great! My brother is vegan so I totally understand!" Which I have to tell you is nice, not having to explain your eating habits to a server is a nice break. Before I could explain the no butter etc... she told me "Ok so the Thai Dye with vegan cheese, tofu and I made a big note no butter or Parmesan cheese on the crust." Yes perfect! This may turn out to be a nice night after all! or was it......

So begins the comedy of errors... I understand it was the first official opening night to the public, but they were not that busy. Empty tables were here and there, no huge wait line out side and it was after all a Monday night. But we after we ordered our food we waited... and waited.... and waited.....

The server came by to check on us, reassured us it wouldn't be much longer, the head waitress (I assume) came by with her head set and asked if we had gotten our food. "No still waiting"
... its now been 45min since we placed our order, other tables have gotten their food, we sit hungry and waiting. The kids we really good thank goodness! That would have made the waiting worse!! Finally the kids got their food!! Still missing the oldest ones side dish but the head waitress, as I will call her, came out right after and said his side would be out. My pizza and my husband's was on its way as well. So more waiting....

The kids are enjoying their food, saying how good it is and yummy in their tummy.... while the baby in my belly is having a fit there is no food for him or her! Ah the server comes out with a pizza!!  For my husband.... (insert grumbling under my breath) what are we at now 1hr since we placed our order??

His pizza came and our server again apologized up and down and said my pizza was only 10 more minutes. Something happened in the kitchen with it, maybe it wasn't made to be vegan we aren't sure but the new one is in the oven and in 10 minutes it will be out. Ok, ok... its been an hour what is 10 more minutes.

Our server comes by again, "I am so sorry! I keep checking! This is crazy though I will get a manager over here, this is just to long to wait" I agree! I pull out the pregnancy card "Yeah it is a bit long to make a pregnant woman wait for her food" I say with a smile, as my hands rest on my stomach.

The manager comes to apologize and tells us he will comp my pizza and part of my husband's pizza since we have had such a long wait. He offers to bring me a salad which I quickly say "YES!" Salad comes, still no pizza....

By this point the kids are done, getting antsy and my hubby is half way done with his pizza. My pizza is still MIA! It's now an hour and a half and the salad is not enough. We need to get a to go box for my pizza because this is to much.

Here comes the server... empty handed. "Well you won't believe this, I was watching them make your pizza and they put butter and Parmesan cheese on the crust! I was so mad!! I yelled at them and told the cooks 'she is VEGAN!' so they have to make another one. It's going to be 15 more minutes". (if you are keeping track this is pizza #2 and now #3)

By this point I would have taken the pizza and just not eaten the crust, or eaten the pizza box.  But I did appreciate her looking out for me so I said "ok..... I guess I don't have a choice".
More waiting.......

The manager came over and told us how sorry he was and hands us this.

$15 gift card for all the problems we had, a nice gesture since my pizza was free and part of the hubby's pizza and now the gift card. He really did show he cared and wanted to make sure we came back and didn't leave as disgruntled customers.

So after the 15minutes of waiting for the RIGHT pizza we got it in a to go box and she gave us the 'bad' pizza they were going to toss that had the butter and Parmesan cheese on the crust.

I was so hungry and ready to go it was now 9pm and I still only had eaten a salad, the apples left by the littlest one and was ready to eat my pizza! We get in the car and I see this..... (not the missing pieces)
Do you see something different between these 2 pizzas??? They are both Thai Dye pizzas, the left one was my correct pizza without butter, but its missing quite a bit more the that. Curry tofu? Basil? Cucumbers? Thai Chili sauce??

Ugh....

But it was such a fiasco I just didn't care and we walked home with a couple of free pizzas.

In summary: We will go back, I will prepare the server for the problems we had and make SURE it doesn't happen again! The staff was great and really seemed to care, that made the difference in how we felt about the over all experience. I could have been mad and made a scene but it was their opening night so I will give Mellow Mushroom in Sanford a pass card this time. Good food, great location, fantastic vegan options.